Could Cam Akers be this year’s CJ Anderson?

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AvengerRam

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In 2018, a funny thing happened on the way to the Super Bowl…

Todd Gurley, was on an MVP pace for much of the season. Then, during the latter stages of the season and into the playoffs, he succumbed to a combination of injury/wear and tear, and his usage dropped substantially.

In came CJ Anderson off the scrap heap and, with fresh legs, he replaced Gurley in the final two games, and out-carried him 46 attempts to Gurley’s 24 in the playoffs.

This year, Darrell Henderson has held up reasonably well in a feature role, but is showing signs of wearing down. Meanwhile, Cam Akers is potentially nearing a point where he could return.

Could Cam provide a late season spark with fresh legs and urgency and, if he does, could that move the needle on the Rams’ playoff odds?

I, for one, am hoping to watch the Rams rally around Cam and play good football.
 
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AvengerRam said:
In 2018, a funny thing happened on the way to the Super Bowl…

Todd Gurley, was on an MVP pace for much of the season. Then, during the latter stages of the season and into the playoffs, he succumbed to a combination of injury/wear and tear, and his usage dropped substantially.

In came CJ Anderson off the scrap heap and, with fresh legs, he replaced Gurley in the final two games, and out-carried him 46 attempts to Gurley’s 24 in the playoffs.

This year, Darrell Henderson has held up reasonably well in a feature role, but is showing signs of wearing down. Meanwhile, Cam Akers is potentially nearing a point where he could return.

Could Cam provide a late season spark with fresh legs and urgency and, if he does, could that move the needle on the Rams’ playoff odds?

I, for one, am hoping to watch the Rams rally around Cam and play good football.
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If he is somehow able to come back in the same form he was last season, it would be a huge shot of adrenaline to this team, no doubt.
 
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That was ACL, correct ?? Don't recall somebody getting back to football in less than a year...Maybe a lot longer...Of course my day job was as a letter carrier...I only did orthopedic surgery in my spare time..So I certainly could be wrong...
 
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I thought he had an Achilles injury? Normally, it takes a minimum of 6-12 months to heal and rehab the injury. I believe he was injured in July so 6 months will be in January. But a premature return could jeopardize his career long-term. IMO he would be foolish in the extreme to take the chance of re-injury.
 
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Billy Baroo said:
That’s three weeks old.
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He posted another one yesterday. Looking pretty spry.
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Cam Akers injury, rehab & return

I heard this from McVay himself. It was a tricky-boy move by the Rams. They didn't place him on the season ending IR list. They classified his ACL tear as happening away from the field, which somehow allows him to come back when he can? I believe I understood that distinction... I get that...
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oldnotdead said:
I thought he had an Achilles injury? Normally, it takes a minimum of 6-12 months to heal and rehab the injury. I believe he was injured in July so 6 months will be in January. But a premature return could jeopardize his career long-term. IMO he would be foolish in the extreme to take the chance of re-injury.
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Agreed. I'd be paranoid and play it super safe, if it was me.

But of course, it isn't me. It's up to Cam.

I will defer to Cam and the medical staff. It's his career. and you don't get many chances in this league. Particularly at RB. For all we know, the way Cam sees it, maybe he thinks missing an entire season is also a death sentence, such that when you balance it against the potential (see: not a guarantee) of re-injury by pushing the recovery envelope, it is worth the risk. I would disagree. But it is his body and his career. If the doctors clear him, and Akers wants to come back, more power to him.

I am skeptical a RB can ever return to be his old self after an achilles tear. We shall see. I hope to be proven wrong, both as a Rams fan, and for Akers as a person. He seems like a great guy that was just about to explode in this league.
 
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It was a torn Achilles tendon. According to WebMD, it’s 4-6 months to be “back to full activity” but “about a year” to be “totally recovered.”

To me, that suggests that a young athlete COULD return in 5 months (late December). Whether he’d be healthy enough to be effective and not create undo risk of re-injury…I’ll leave that to the doctors.
 
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He's so good, I think I'd be more paranoid he does something permanent than appreciate any of his nice runs...

But that's just me. It may be he figures he can recover in the offseason if necessary?
 
OntarioRam said:
I am skeptical a RB can ever return to be his old self after an achilles tear. We shall see. I hope to be proven wrong, both as a Rams fan, and for Akers as a person. He seems like a great guy that was just about to explode in this league.
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I couldn't agree more. Coming back in 6 months or less is not a good idea. I worked in SICU & Trauma Unit as a ward corpsman. I saw my share of Achilles injuries. I've seen what happens when docs release them on "limited duty" but the Marine NCOs don't understand the concept of limited duty. Almost all re-injured themselves. Just because he can walk around or jog doesn't mean he can put the stress on that injury that comes in playing NFL football.

But regardless I sincerely doubt he can return 100% to his pre-injury form. Think about Gurley's performance after his injury, and how much power and speed he lost. That's why they made the trade for Michel. Michel is their new "Malcolm Brown". He's capable of carrying the load just as Malcolm was. He's also significantly faster with better hands as a receiver.

Talking about the run game. I've been saying it since TC. McVay is proving himself wrong trying to run a power run scheme without a FB. Doesn't breakdown his own film??? The OL is gap blocking the play but there is no FB to take out the final LB who simply fills the hole and forces the RB to redirect which gives time for the rest of the D to react to the run. For god sake this is FB 100 stuff. Go ahead and break those runs down and you will see the hole with one LB filling it and no FB to blow him out.

McVay is trying to get too cute assuming that the LB will be out of position. Also, if it's a pass then it's that LB who can get a free run at Stafford. Without play-action to hold him and get the RB to fill that inside gap too many times Stafford is dead meat. Without that play-action, McVay's offense is a lot of tinsel, i.e. way too easy to read.
 
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OntarioRam said:
Agreed. I'd be paranoid and play it super safe, if it was me.

But of course, it isn't me. It's up to Cam.

I will defer to Cam and the medical staff. It's his career. and you don't get many chances in this league. Particularly at RB. For all we know, the way Cam sees it, maybe he thinks missing an entire season is also a death sentence, such that when you balance it against the potential (see: not a guarantee) of re-injury by pushing the recovery envelope, it is worth the risk. I would disagree. But it is his body and his career. If the doctors clear him, and Akers wants to come back, more power to him.

I am skeptical a RB can ever return to be his old self after an achilles tear. We shall see. I hope to be proven wrong, both as a Rams fan, and for Akers as a person. He seems like a great guy that was just about to explode in this league.
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I agree 100%. It would be a huge mistake to rush him back this year. The chance of re-injury is extremely high and I doubt he would be better than our current Henderson/Michel combo fresh out of rehab.

High risk / low reward
 
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Honestly, he did show promise last year and had a stretch of good games, but he gets talked about like he’s a top back. He’s proven nothing. Higbee had an amazing 7 game stretch, and I still think TE is a position of need
 
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The only thing that I can even comprehend is maybe he had a very very minor tear.

Like not full ruptured Achilles.

And be attacked his rehab! I know he did that
 
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Some people have different healing speeds so this is a surgeon and med staff question. And the Rams med staff seems to be good at what they do.

I am very hopeful he returns. That would be a significant boost to our offense.
 
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